Power module for envelope tracking

ABSTRACT

A power module at least includes an ET (Envelope Tracking) module. The ET module includes a buck converter, an inductor, and a capacitor. The buck converter is coupled to a work voltage. The buck converter has a first input terminal for receiving a first control signal, a second input terminal coupled to a supply node, and a buck output terminal The inductor is coupled between the buck output terminal of the buck converter and the supply node. The capacitor is coupled between the supply node and a ground voltage. The ET module is configured to supply a first adaptive supply voltage at the supply node. The first adaptive supply voltage is determined according to the first control signal.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation-In-Part of application Ser. No.13/612,781, filed Sep. 12, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,816,768, theentirety of which is incorporated by reference herein, and furtherclaims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/623,167, filedon Apr. 12, 2012, the entirety of which is incorporated by referenceherein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The disclosure generally relates to a power module, and moreparticularly to a power module for reducing power consumption.

2. Description of the Related Art

A power amplifier (PA) is an important element in a communicationsystem.

Traditionally, the communication system supplies the power amplifierwith a fixed supply voltage. The fixed supply voltage is much greaterthan a peak value of an output signal of the power amplifier such thatsome supply power is wasted.

Accordingly, there is a need to design a new power module for powermanagement in a communication system so as to reduce power consumptionof a power amplifier.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one exemplary embodiment, the disclosure is directed to a powermodule at least including an ET (Envelope Tracking) module. The ETmodule includes a buck converter, an inductor, and a capacitor. The buckconverter is coupled to a work voltage. The buck converter has a firstinput terminal for receiving a first control signal, a second inputterminal coupled to a supply node, and a buck output terminal Theinductor is coupled between the buck output terminal of the buckconverter and the supply node. The capacitor is coupled between thesupply node and a ground voltage. The ET module is configured to supplya first adaptive supply voltage at the supply node. The first adaptivesupply voltage is determined according to the first control signal.

In some embodiments, the power module further comprises: a mappingcircuit, receiving a baseband signal, and generating the first controlsignal according to the baseband signal. In some embodiments, themapping circuit obtains information of I/Q channel magnitude from thebaseband signal. In some embodiments, the power module furthercomprises: a baseband circuit, generating the baseband signal. In someembodiments, the power module further comprises a power amplifiercoupled to the baseband circuit, wherein the power amplifier is suppliedat the supply node by the ET module. In some embodiments, the powermodule further comprises a local oscillator, which generates anoscillation signal, and a mixer, which generates a mixing signalaccording to the baseband signal and the oscillation signal, wherein thepower amplifier is configured to amplify the mixing signal so as tooutput an RF (Radio Frequency) signal. In some embodiments, the firstadaptive supply voltage substantially tracks an envelope of the RFsignal. In some embodiments, the first adaptive supply voltage is afixed value which is equal to or higher than a peak value of the RFsignal. In some embodiments, the waveform of the first adaptive supplyvoltage comprises a plurality of dynamic slot windows, and a combinationof the dynamic slot windows forms a shape which is similar to anenvelope of the RF signal. In some embodiments, the relationship betweenthe first adaptive supply voltage and the RF signal is as follows:ET_BW×RR=RBET_BW, wherein ET_BW represents a signal bandwidth of the RFsignal, RR represents a reduced rate, and RBET_BW represents a signalbandwidth of the first adaptive supply voltage. In some embodiments, thereduced rate is less than 1 and greater than or equal to 0.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The invention can be more fully understood by reading the subsequentdetailed description and examples with references made to theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagram for illustrating a power module according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram for illustrating a power module according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram for illustrating a waveform of a first adaptivesupply voltage and a waveform of an RF (Radio Frequency) signalaccording to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4A is a diagram for illustrating a first method for envelopetracking according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4B is a diagram for illustrating a second method for envelopetracking according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4C is a diagram for illustrating a third method for envelopetracking according to an embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 5 is a diagram for illustrating a power module according to anembodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a diagram for illustrating a power module 100 according to anembodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the power module 100 atleast comprises a linear amplifier 110 and a DC-to-DC (Direct Current toDirect Current) converter 120. The linear amplifier 110 has a positiveinput terminal for receiving a first control signal SC1, a negativeinput terminal, and an output terminal for outputting a first adaptivesupply voltage VA1, wherein the output terminal is further fed back tothe negative input terminal The linear amplifier 110 is configured todetect a voltage difference between the positive input terminal and thenegative input terminal, and configured to amplify the voltagedifference by a gain factor so as to output the first adaptive supplyvoltage VA1 at the output terminal Since the gain factor is usually verylarge (ideally, infinite gain), the voltage at the positive inputterminal is approximately equal to that at the negative input terminalThe DC-to-DC converter 120 receives a second control signal SC2, andsupplies a second adaptive supply voltage VA2 to the linear amplifier110 according to the second control signal SC2. Note that the firstcontrol signal SC1 is related to the second control signal SC2. Thefirst adaptive supply voltage VA1 and the second adaptive supply voltageVA2 will be described in detail in the following paragraph. In someembodiments, the waveform of the first control signal SC1 is similar tothat of the second control signal SC2. In a preferred embodiment, thelinear amplifier 110 can supply the first adaptive supply voltage VA1 toother electronic components, such as a power amplifier (PA), so as toperform envelope tracking and reduce power consumption.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for illustrating a power module 200 according to anembodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the power module 200may comprise the linear amplifier 110, the DC-to-DC converter 120, amapping circuit 130, a baseband circuit 140, a power amplifier 150, alocal oscillator 160, a mixer 170, a buck converter 180, a voltagedivider circuit 190, an inductor L1, and a capacitor C1. Note that theinvention is not limited to the above, and the power module 200 mayfurther comprise other relative communication elements, such as filtersand drivers.

The baseband circuit 140 generates a baseband signal SB, and transmitsthe baseband signal SB to the mapping circuit 130 and the mixer 170,respectively. The power amplifier 150 is coupled through the mixer 170to the baseband circuit 140. The linear amplifier 110 supplies the firstadaptive supply voltage VA1 to the power amplifier 150. The localoscillator 160 generates an oscillation signal S1. The mixer 170generates a mixing signal S2 according to the baseband signal SB and theoscillation signal S1. The power amplifier 150 further amplifies themixing signal S2 so as to output an RF (Radio Frequency) signal S3.

In a preferred embodiment, the mapping circuit 130 may be an ET(Envelope Tracking) mapping circuit. The mapping circuit 130 receivesthe baseband signal SB, and generates the first control signal SC1 andthe second control signal SC2 according to the baseband signal SB. Insome embodiments, at least two mapping tables are previously stored inthe mapping circuit 130. The mapping circuit 130 maps the basebandsignal SB to the first control signal SC1 by looking up a first mappingtable, and maps the baseband signal SB to the second control signal SC2by looking up a second mapping table. More particularly, the mappingcircuit 130 obtains information of I/Q channel magnitude from thebaseband signal SB, and uses the information to predict the firstadaptive supply voltage VA1, which is going to be output by the linearamplifier 110, and the RF signal S3, which is going to be output by thepower amplifier 150, and the mapping circuit 130 generates the firstcontrol signal SC1 and the second control signal SC2 according to theprediction. In a preferred embodiment, the second adaptive supplyvoltage VA2 substantially tracks the envelope of the first adaptivesupply voltage VA1, and the first adaptive supply voltage VA1substantially tracks the envelope of the RF signal S3, thereby reducingpower consumption of the linear amplifier 110 and the power amplifier150.

The output terminal of the linear amplifier 110 may be fed back throughthe voltage divider circuit 190 to the negative input terminal of thelinear amplifier 110. In some embodiments, the voltage divider circuit190 comprises a first resistor R1, a second resistor R2, and a thirdresistor R3. The first resistor R1 is coupled between a ground voltageVSS (e.g., 0V) and a node N1. The second resistor R2 is coupled betweenthe node N1 and the output terminal of the linear amplifier 110. Thethird resistor R3 is coupled between the node N1 and the negative inputterminal of the linear amplifier 110. Note that the voltage dividercircuit 190 is an optional element and may be removed from the powermodule 200 in other embodiments.

The buck converter 180 is coupled to a work voltage VDD. The buckconverter 180 has a first input terminal for receiving the first controlsignal SC1, a second input terminal for reading a voltage V or a currentI at the output terminal of the linear amplifier 120, and a buck outputterminal coupled to the power amplifier 150. In some embodiments, thebuck converter 180 converts the work voltage VDD into a low voltage VLat the buck output terminal according to the received signals at thefirst input terminal and the second input terminal In addition, theinductor L1 may be coupled between the buck output terminal and thepower amplifier 150 so as to block AC (Alternating Current) components,and the capacitor C1 may be coupled between the output terminal of thelinear amplifier 110 and the power amplifier 150 so as to block DC(Direct Current) components. Generally speaking, the buck converter 180supplies DC components to the power amplifier 150, and the linearamplifier 110 supplies AC components to the power amplifier 150. Thebuck converter 180 can help improve heat dissipation in the linearamplifier 110. Note that the buck converter 180, the inductor L1 and thecapacitor C1 are optional elements, and they may be removed from thepower module 200 in other embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for illustrating the waveform of the first adaptivesupply voltage VA1 and the waveform of the RF signal S3 according to anembodiment of the invention. The horizontal axis represents time, andthe vertical axis represents amplitude (unit: voltage). As shown in FIG.3, the first adaptive supply voltage VA1 substantially tracks theenvelope of the RF signal S3, and the voltage difference between thefirst adaptive supply voltage VA1 and the RF signal S3 becomes small.Therefore, the power consumption of the power amplifier 150 can beeffectively reduced. Similarly, the second adaptive supply voltage VA2substantially tracks the envelope of the first adaptive supply voltageVA1, thereby reducing the power consumption of the linear amplifier 110.There are three methods for envelope tracking in the invention. Thesemethods will be illustrated as follows.

FIG. 4A is a diagram for illustrating a first method for envelopetracking according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG.4A, the RF signal S3 has a complex waveform, but the first adaptivesupply voltage VA1 just has a fixed voltage level which is greater thanor equal to the peak value of the RF signal S3. The first method is thesimplest method for reducing wasted power consumption in the powermodule. The first method just requires a simple circuit.

FIG. 4B is a diagram for illustrating a second method for envelopetracking according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG.4B, the waveform of the first adaptive supply voltage VA1 comprises aplurality of dynamic slot windows 410-1, 410-2, . . . , and 410-N, and acombination of the dynamic slot windows 410-1, 410-2, . . . , and 410-Nforms a shape which is similar to the envelope of the RF signal S3. Inthe embodiment, the first adaptive supply voltage VA1 roughly tracks theenvelope of the RF signal S3 dynamically. The second method requires amore complex circuit than the first method does.

FIG. 4C is a diagram for illustrating a third method for envelopetracking according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG.4C, the first adaptive supply voltage VA1 reconstructs the envelope ofthe RF signal S3 completely. In the embodiment, the first adaptivesupply voltage VA1 and the RF signal S3 have identical waveforms. Thethird method is the most effective method for saving power in the powermodule. The third method requires the most complex circuit among thethree methods.

In addition, the relationship between the first adaptive supply voltageVA1 and the RF signal S3 may be similar to the relationship between thesecond adaptive supply voltage VA2 and the first adaptive supply voltageVA1. In other words, the first adaptive supply voltage VA1 and the RFsignal S3 as shown in FIGS. 4A-4C may be replaced with the secondadaptive supply voltage VA2 and the first adaptive supply voltage VA1,respectively. The second adaptive supply voltage VA2 may also tracks theenvelope of the first adaptive supply voltage VA1 according to the abovethree methods.

Note that the three methods for envelope tracking as described in FIGS.4A-4C may be all performed by the power modules 100 and 200. The powermodules 100 and 200 may predict the output of the power amplifier 150and accordingly generate the first adaptive supply voltage VA1 and thesecond adaptive supply voltage VA2 as mentioned above.

In a preferred embodiment, the DC-to-DC converter 120 is an adaptivevoltage generator (AVG). The DC-to-DC converter 120 may be implementedby an inductor-base switching converter or a capacitor-base switchingconverter.

The power module of the invention can supply adaptive supply voltages tothe linear amplifier and the power amplifier according to the basebandsignal, thereby reducing power consumption of the whole systemeffectively. In particular to modern 3G/4G communication systems, the ACsupply voltage dominates the efficiency of the power amplifier. Thelinear amplifier is incorporated into the invention so as to control theAC supply voltage appropriately.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for illustrating a power module 500 according to anembodiment of the invention. In the embodiment of FIG. 5, the powermodule 500 at least comprises an ET (Envelope Tracking) module 510. TheET module 510 comprises a buck converter 180, an inductor L1, and acapacitor C1. The buck converter 180 is coupled to a work voltage VDD.The buck converter 180 has a first input terminal for receiving a firstcontrol signal SC1, a second input terminal coupled to a supply node NSand used for reading a voltage at the supply node NS, and a buck outputterminal The buck converter 180 converts the work voltage VDD into a lowvoltage VL at the buck output terminal according to the received signalsat its first input terminal and the second input terminal The inductorL1 is coupled between the buck output terminal of the buck converter 180and the supply node NS. The capacitor C1 is coupled between the supplynode NS and a ground voltage VSS. The ET module 510 is configured tosupply a first adaptive supply voltage VA1 at the supply node NS. Thefirst adaptive supply voltage VA1 is determined according to the firstcontrol signal SC1, and it may be further controlled by a negativefeedback mechanism of the buck converter 180 (e.g., the second inputterminal of the buck converter 180 is used for reading the voltage atthe supply node NS, and the read value may affect the first adaptivesupply voltage VA1).

The power module 500 may further comprise a mapping circuit 130, abaseband circuit 140, a power amplifier 150, a local oscillator 160, anda mixer 170. The detailed structures and functions of the abovecomponents have been described in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4C. In theembodiment of FIG. 5, the power amplifier 150 is supplied by the firstadaptive supply voltage VA1 of the ET module 510. The first adaptivesupply voltage VA1 of the ET module 510 may substantially track theenvelope of the RF signal S3, and therefore reduce the power consumptionof the power amplifier 150. In comparison to the embodiment of FIG. 5,the power module 500 has no linear amplifier, and merely uses the ETmodule 510 to fine-tune the supply voltage of the power amplifier 150.The ET module 510 can analyze the information of I/Q channel magnitudefrom the baseband signal SB, and use the information to predict andgenerate the first adaptive supply voltage VA1. As mentioned above, thebuck converter 180 substantially supplies the DC components, such thatthe first adaptive supply voltage VA1 of the ET module 510 may have awaveform which is similar to those in FIGS. 4A and 4B. In someembodiments, the first adaptive supply voltage VA1 is a fixed valuewhich is equal to or higher than the peak value of the RF signal S3(FIG. 4A). In some embodiments, the waveform of the first adaptivesupply voltage VA1 comprises a plurality of dynamic slot windows, and acombination of the dynamic slot windows forms a shape which is similarto the envelope of the RF signal S3 (FIG. 4B).

In some embodiments, the relationship between the first adaptive supplyvoltage VA1 and the RF signal S3 is described by the equation (1):ET_BW×RR=RBET_BW   (1)where ET_BW represents the signal bandwidth of the RF signal S3, RRrepresents a reduced rate, and RBET_BW represents the signal bandwidthof the first adaptive supply voltage VA1.

The reduced rate RR is less than 1 and greater than or equal to 0. Forexample, the reduced rate RR may be 0.3, 0.5, or 0.8. The first adaptivesupply voltage VA1 may have a narrower signal bandwidth than that of theRF signal R3. For example, the first adaptive supply voltage VA1 maymerely comprise low-frequency components of the RF signal S3, ratherthan the complete wave reconstruction of the RF signal S3. The design ofFIG. 5 does not require complex circuits to implement, and it is easilyused in a variety of applications.

Use of ordinal terms such as “first”, “second”, “third”, etc., in theclaims to modify a claim element does not by itself connote anypriority, precedence, or order of one claim element over another or thetemporal order in which acts of a method are performed, but are usedmerely as labels to distinguish one claim element having a certain namefrom another element having a same name (but for use of the ordinalterm) to distinguish the claim elements.

While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms ofthe preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention isnot limited to the disclosed embodiments. To the contrary, it isintended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements (aswould be apparent to those skilled in the art). Therefore, the scope ofthe appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so asto encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.

What is claimed is:
 1. A power module, comprising: an ET (EnvelopeTracking) module, comprising: a buck converter, coupled to a workvoltage, wherein the buck converter has a first input terminal forreceiving a first control signal, a second input terminal coupled to asupply node, and a buck output terminal; an inductor, coupled betweenthe buck output terminal of the buck converter and the supply node; anda capacitor, coupled between the supply node and a ground voltage;wherein the ET module is configured to supply a first adaptive supplyvoltage at the supply node, and the first adaptive supply voltage isdetermined according to the first control signal; wherein the powermodule further comprises: a mapping circuit, receiving a basebandsignal, and generating the first control signal according to thebaseband signal; wherein the mapping circuit obtains information of I/Qchannel magnitude from the baseband signal.
 2. The power module asclaimed in claim 1, further comprising: a baseband circuit, generatingthe baseband signal.
 3. The power module as claimed in claim 2, furthercomprising: a power amplifier, coupled to the baseband circuit, whereinthe power amplifier is supplied at the supply node by the ET module. 4.The power module as claimed in claim 3, further comprising: a localoscillator, generating an oscillation signal; and a mixer, generating amixing signal according to the baseband signal and the oscillationsignal, wherein the power amplifier is configured to amplify the mixingsignal so as to output an RF (Radio Frequency) signal.
 5. The powermodule as claimed in claim 4, wherein the first adaptive supply voltagesubstantially tracks an envelope of the RF signal.
 6. The power moduleas claimed in claim 5, wherein the first adaptive supply voltage is afixed value which is equal to or higher than a peak value of the RFsignal.
 7. The power module as claimed in claim 5, wherein a waveform ofthe first adaptive supply voltage comprises a plurality of dynamic slotwindows, and a combination of the dynamic slot windows forms a shapewhich is similar to an envelope of the RF signal.
 8. The power module asclaimed in claim 5, wherein the relationship between the first adaptivesupply voltage and the RF signal is as follows:ET_BW×RR=RBET_BW wherein ET_(—) BW represents a signal bandwidth of theRF signal, RR represents a reduced rate, and RBET_BW represents a signalbandwidth of the first adaptive supply voltage.
 9. The power module asclaimed in claim 8, wherein the reduced rate is less than 1 and greaterthan or equal to 0.